King Charles "shocked" a group of runners who raised money for a cancer charity on Saturday (25.01.25)

Sophie Hansell, an ambassador for the run, told the BBC: "I was just in shock, I think I stood with my mouth in aghast for a minute."

The King had been formally invited to attend the event near his Sandringham Estate - but surprised the participants when he appeared from nowhere and without any warning.

The monarch ultimately met with around 18 members of the charity.

Sophie said: "They just set up the restaurant, so it was quite informal, and he came in through the kitchen door."

The monarch was diagnosed with cancer last February and began his treatment shortly afterwards.

Sophie explained that some members of the charity could relate to the King's cancer experience.

She shared: "He was really engaging.

"I think a lot of the people who spoke to him said that he seemed to understand what it was like [cancer], and so he could really talk on the level of people's treatment and their recovery.

"As much as you can empathise from an outsider's perspective, it is completely different having gone through it [cancer] yourself."

Meanwhile, Move Against Cancer has thanked the King for attending the event.

The charity said on X: "We are very proud that HRH The King visited our @Sandringham5KYW group on Saturday! Thank you everyone for being so welcoming. We love to see our message being shared: let's all move against cancer. (sic)"